The wrestler’s entry into the arena is a defining moment that sets the stage for the upcoming match. It offers a preview of the wrestler’s character and behavior, with the Heels acting aloof and insulting, and Baby-Faces flirting with the fans and trying to make friends.
The ring entrance also displays the man’s physique, a tease to get the audience in the mood. The wrestler puts himself out there, a visual feast for everyone to devour — his naked flesh, his colorful bulging trunks, offering free hugs and handshakes to all comers. The natural instinct for many fans is to reach out and touch him, to establish a connection.
The wrestler acts as if this is the most natural thing in the world: that it’s not strange at all for him to be the only half-naked person in the room, with everyone (primarily men) gawking at him. His actions say: Don’t worry, there is nothing gay going on here! I am unclothed only because I’m getting ready to wrestle, so you can go ahead and stare at my hard body all you want, sports fan.
Pro wrestling boils down to a celebration of the male body. The wrestler is presented as the ultimate Disciplined Man who will be successful because he is in control of his flesh. The proud display of his bare physique as he walks down the aisle, as well as his strength and dexterity in the ring, send the message that he is a Healthy Man for us to emulate — he is powerful and free because he has mastered and molded his physique into an efficient machine.
Not only is he fit and muscular, but we see he also clearly takes care of himself, his body carefully groomed, his skin tanned and oiled. He has a gleam in his eye, the picture of wellness. We are meant to hold up the wrestler as a standard of physical excellence, a goal that we, too, could achieve.
After the spectacular body is paraded before us, we watch him fly around the ring, withstand epic punishment and fight his way to victory. We begin to covet his physical perfection — we want his body.
But it’s too hard for most men to achieve that level of physical perfection and muscularity. So if we can’t possess a body like that ourselves, we naturally turn to “wanting” his body in another way: gay or straight, we begin to desire the wrestler himself.
This is why a good ring entrance can make or break a wrestler– he must inspire our attraction to him. Whether he is a Baby-Face or Heel, and whether the viewer is gay or straight, the intent is to generate a craving for the idealized male body — either to serve as inspiration for our own potential for excellence and power, or as an object of sexual desire. As the wrestler walks to the ring, every man in the audience should find himself somewhere between wanting to be like him, or wanting to be with him.